The Red Sox probably won't attempt to sign Josh Beckett to a long-term deal before the start of next season."We kind of want to date for a while," said assistant GM Jed Hoyer. "We just acquired him. Let's get to know each other over the next couple months. If we decide we want to do a long-term deal, we'll do that." ESPN's Peter Gammons is going around saying that Beckett's MRI was so bad that the Red Sox aren't sure they'll get 20 starts from him next season. While we find that hard to believe -- he's an injury risk, but the Red Sox had access to the MRI before completing the deal -- waiting is clearly the smart play for Boston here. With two years remaining before free agency, it's not like he'd come cheap if he signed now. Dec. 7 - 4:24 am etSource: Boston Globe